Poker Strategy

Early Tournament Play
The early stage of an online multi-table tournament is the only time that almost all the players have stack sizes large enough to allow them a full range of plays at the table. For the purposes of this article, we will consider the “early” stage of the tourney to be the blind levels prior to the antes kicking in. Let’s examine some strategies that may be used successfully, in order to be in good shape once the acceleration of the blinds and antes commences.

Pre-Flop Play in Online Tournaments
As more and more tournament poker has been seen on television, players have been introduced to a wide variety of pre-flop styles that either were never seen before at the table, or at least were not discussed prior to the advent of the hole card camera. While once it was shocking to see someone like Gus Hansen make a raise under the gun with J-4 offsuit, now it has become so common a move as to be almost clichéd.

Look For The Overlay
One of the unique features of online poker is the “guaranteed” tournament, where the site puts up a specific amount as a prize pool, regardless of whether or not the buy-ins reach that total. These guarantees may take the form of cash, or in the case of many satellite tourneys, a particular number of seats in a future event.

Using the “Weak” Continuation Bet
One of the unique features of online tournament play is how quickly you are moved from one table to another during the course of the event. Although you may play with the same group of opponents for a fair amount of time, more frequently you are faced with a rapidly changing lineup of players who have never seen you before.

Being Aware of the Blind Structure in Online Tournaments
One of the most important aspects of successfully playing in any multi-table tournament is staying ahead of the blinds and antes. The number of strategic options available to you will always be largely dependent on the number of big blinds in your stack at any point. Therefore, it is essential that you be aware of the tournament structure before you begin, so that you can plan out how aggressively you will need to attack right from the beginning.